New Delhi: The center on Sunday called on state governments to keep ration shops, also called fair price shops, open longer and longer to ensure timely and safe distribution of subsidized and free food grain to the poor.
An opinion in this regard was issued by the Union Food Ministry following the proposals that the timing of ration shops during the current exclusion in some states / UTs be limited, whereby the intended beneficiaries may not have sufficient time to get their right food grains on to charge. .
‘In view of the continued exclusion in some states / UTs, which may limit the functional hours of Fair Price Shop (FPS), an advice was issued on 15 May 2021 … to keep the FPSs open, preferably at all days of the month. , “The ministry said in a statement.
The Center distributes highly monthly subsidized food grains of 5 kg per person at Rs 1-3 per kg via ration shops to more than 80 poor people under the National Food Safety Act (NFSA).
In addition, an additional 5 kg of free pellets will be distributed to the same beneficiaries for two months under the PMGKAY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana) scheme to limit the economic problems facing NFSA beneficiaries in May-June. second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the advice, the center asked states to keep the ration shops open for the distribution of food grain under the NFSA as well as the PMGKAY scheme throughout the day in a staggering way, with proper social distance and the compliance of all COVID-19 protocols, it said.
To facilitate this, states have been requested to ensure that FPSs are exempt from the limited opening hours of ordinary markets as food grains are covered under essential items.
Furthermore, the center asked states to take the necessary steps for the timely distribution of food grains at their FPSs without burdening the beneficiaries, and to give wide publicity to the measures taken in this regard.
Source: Telangana Today